Sunday, June 19th

Seacoast United Phantoms played Ottawa Fury on Sunday afternoon on a scorching hot day, gaining a 1-1 draw.

Coach Iain Scott was pleased with the way his team dictated the game, “We are a closely knit unit now who are learning quickly and I expect to see the team grow even stronger over the remainder of the season.”

Seacoast United Phantoms played Ottawa Fury away today on a scorching hot day, gaining a 1-1 draw. The Phantoms had two new starters in the line up from the previous game with Ryan Dunn and Robert McLarney replacing the unavailable Joey Barima and Jesse Schram.

Seacoast started the game well with Chris Tsonis proving to be a handful for the Fury defense. Early pressure brought a couple of corners which Fury managed to scramble clear. The Phantoms were dominating in midfield with Eric Masi and Steven Palumbo making penetrating runs in behind the Fury defense.

Against the run of play, Ottawa scored the opening goal when Ottawa's Keegan Ziada evaded defender Ryan Dunn’s tackle in midfield. Ziada then played a ball to the edge of the box which was cleverly flicked on, allowing Robbie Sabadoz to shoot on the turn from 12 yds, scoring at the near post with Phantoms goalkeeper John Dawson anticipating a shot to the far post.

Seacoast created two chances soon after with Steven Palumbo breaking free, his execution of the lob over the advancing GK looked to be going in only for the post to deny his effort. From a corner, Eric Masi had a goal-bound header hit his own player Karel Manrau on the line and Fury managed to scramble the ball clear.

The second half saw Seacoast again dominating proceedings and went close to equalizing when striker Chris Tsonis turned in the box. From 12 yds his shot was blocked on the line by a fortunate Fury defender.

Phantoms' substitutes Dylan Gorge replaced James Palumbo (55 mins) and Charlie Roach replaced Tsonis (68 mins). George broke free on 75 mins and from 16 yds with a bouncing ball in front of him, he blasted a shot over the bar.

Fury hit the crossbar on a rare counter attack with a long range effort. However, goalkeeper Dawson was well positioned to save if required.

Steven Palumbo was causing problems with his dribbles into the box and twice passed across the face of the goal with players just failing to apply the finishing touch. The equalizer came on 84 mins when Palumbo cut in from the right, racing into the box he cleverly cut inside and was fouled by a miss-timed tackle. Palumbo picked himself up and expertly converted the penalty low into the left hand corner of the net.

The last seven minutes of the game saw Seacoast push for the winner but Fury hung on for a draw.

Coach Iain Scott was pleased with the way his team dictated the game, “We are a closely knit unit now who are learning quickly and I expect to see the team grow even stronger over the remainder of the season.”

The next home games for the Seacoast United Phantoms take place this Friday and Saturday. On Friday, June 24th, the Phantoms take on Mass United FC in a NPSL matchup scheduled for 6:30pm at Exeter High School. Saturday June 25th's match is the third meeting of the season between the Phantoms and MPS Portland Phoenix. This PDL game will take place at 7pm at Portsmouth High School. Tickets for both games are available on the Seacoast United Phantoms website here.